Friend thought Belcher, girlfriend headed for marriage

Dec. 1, 2012
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Inside linebacker Jovan Belcher #59 of the Kansas City Chiefs walks off the field during his final game against the Denver Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium on November 25, 2012 in Kansas City, Missouri. / Jamie Squire, Getty Images

by Mike Vorel, For USA TODAY Sports

by Mike Vorel, For USA TODAY Sports

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A friend of both Kasandra Perkins and Jovan Belcher said that she had thought of the two as "the perfect couple."

Everything Devene Dunson-Rusher saw, she says, made her think Belcher and Perkins had a healthy relationship â?? one she assumed would end in marriage.

"I always joked around that they would be getting married soon," she said. "They called each other husband and wife, even though they weren't married."

Dunson-Rusher, who was a classmate of Perkins at Blue River Community College in Independence, Mo., visited the couple's home to place a bouquet of flowers on the front porch Saturday evening, hours after police say Belcher shot his girlfriend to death â?? with the couple's child and his own mother in the home â?? and then drove to the Kansas City Chiefs headquarters and killed himself in the parking lot.

Dunson-Rusher said she has known Perkins for several years, and as they became better friends she spent more and more time at the home Perkins shared with her NFL boyfriend. She described Perkins as an incredibly likable person.

"She was the sweetest person I knew. Generous, kind. Everyone she met fell in love with her," Dunson-Rusher said. "She was amazing, a really good friend."

Dunson-Rusher said she met Belcher through her friendship with Perkins, and she immediately became friendly with him as well.

"He was just kind, a very sweet-hearted person. They were definitely a couple I looked up to. I kind of saw him as a big brother, so to speak," Dunson-Rusher said. "He was very intelligent, and just a really nice person."

The Kansas City Star, quoting an unidentified friend of Perkins, reported that the violence erupted after Belcher confronted his girlfriend after she returned at about 1 a.m. following a Trey Songz concert.

The couple had dated about three years and argued frequently, the woman told The Star.

Dunson-Rusher said she never saw Belcher and Perkins argue, and said Perkins never spoke poorly of Belcher in private, either. The violence that unfolded Saturday morning was even more shocking, she said, because she couldn't fathom a reason for Belcher to be mad at Perkins, or vice versa.

"He never had a reason (to be jealous). She was home all the time. This is where we spent our time, at home," Dunson-Rusher said. "He knew me. He knew all of our friends. He didn't have a reason to be jealous."

Dunson-Rusher recalled many days when she, Perkins and Belcher sat in their home and watched "Hoarders," their favorite television show. She said she often went grocery shopping and ran errands with the couple, and changed a few of their new baby's diapers. Zoey was born on Sept. 11, and was in the care of her grandmother â?? Belcher's mother â?? on Saturday night, police said.

Dunson-Rusher, who is also pregnant, said she last spoke to Perkins a couple days ago. They talked about the health of her baby, a casual conversation amongst friends.

She said she knew Perkins and Belcher had gotten into an argument recently, but Perkins had said it was resolved.

"When I talked to her a couple days ago she said, 'The baby is doing great. Javon is being great.' I know that they did get into an argument, but she said, 'Everything is great now.'"

Dunson-Rusher said she didn't ask what the argument was about. Saturday evening, after dropping off flowers at the place she referred to as her "home away from home," she tried to make sense of the tragedy.

"It's hell, honestly. Lots of crying," she said, her eyes watering as she spoke. "I'm shocked, very shocked."